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New Issue Of SKY & SPACE Magazine Out Now

 The latest issue of the ‘New’ SKY & SPACE is already in the newsagents. SKY & SPACE has 100 pages packed full of fascinating, easy-to-read articles and spectacular astrophotography.

It contains a detailed overview of the Cassini mission plus dozens of stories and features certain to interest the casual reader or advanced ‘space buff’. A detailed overview of potentially dangerous asteroids are also featured, the best astro images from 2004, space tourism businesses, plus news updates and pictures sent in by readers.

End of Conspiracy Theories? Spacecraft Snoops Apollo Moon Sites

A European spacecraft now orbiting the Moon could turn out to be a time machine of sorts as it photographs old landing sites of Soviet robotic probes and the areas where American Apollo crews set down and explored.

New imagery of old Apollo touchdown spots, from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART-1 probe, might put to rest conspiratorial thoughts that U.S. astronauts didn’t go the distance and scuff up the lunar landscape. NASA carried out six piloted landings on the Moon in the time period 1969 through 1972.

Fringe theorists have said images of the waving flag -- on a Moon with no atmosphere -- and other oddities show that NASA never really went to the Moon. No serious scientist or spaceflight historian doubts the success of the Apollo program, however.

The SMART-1 orbiter circling the Moon has already covered the Apollo 11, 16, 17 landing sites, as well as spots where the former Soviet Union’s Luna 16 and Luna 20 automated vehicles plopped down. The images have not yet been released.

Given SMART-1’s initial high orbit, however, it may prove difficult, but not impossible, to see artefacts. Each Apollo site, where the engine blast of the two-person landing craft stirred up the landscape, could be worthwhile targets for SMART-1 imaging.

SMART-1 arrived in lunar orbit last November. Last month, ESA announced that the lunar mission would be extended by one year, pushing back the mission end date from August 2005 to August 2006.

Now, if SMART-1 can get an eyeful, why not use the Hubble space telescope to take photos of the Apollo landing sites? Hubble did photograph the Moon, in 1999.  (Good question, ask us at time of interview for the answer. Ed.)

Top 10 Apollo Hoax Theories

Space.Com

Huge Space Clouds May Have Caused Mass Extinctions

Giant space clouds of gas may have changed the climate or atmosphere on Earth and fuelled mass extinctions millions of years ago, scientists said Thursday.

In one scenario, the solar system passed through a dense cloud of interstellar material, causing Earth to ice over. In the other, the solar system passed through less dense clouds that destroyed the planet's protective ozone layer, raising levels of harmful ultraviolet radiation.

Mass extinctions have occurred in Earth's past. That much is clear, from the fossil record. But what cause them is less certain. A widespread die-off 65 million years ago, which wiped out the dinosaurs and many other species, is thought by most scientists to have been caused by an asteroid impact.

Other extinctions have been attributed to impacts, climate change, cosmic rays, exploding stars, increased volcanic activity and even global warming. Multiple events may have conspired to make life difficult in any one of the five known worst mass extinctions.

The idea that we pass through clouds of galactic debris is not new. In fact, a 2003 study found that we're travelling through a mild one right now.

How would space clouds trigger death? "Computer models show dramatic climate change can be caused by interstellar dust accumulating in Earth's atmosphere during the solar system's immersion into a dense space cloud," said Alex Pavlov, principal author of both papers and a researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The dust layer would hover around Earth, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the planet while letting terrestrial heat escape into space, creating a snowballing chill. "There are indications from 600 to 800 million years ago that at least two of four glaciations were snowball glaciations," Pavlov said. "The big mystery revolves around how they are triggered."

Moderately dense space clouds, the sort that might destroy the ozone layer, are huge, Pavlov points out, and the solar system could take up to 500,000 years pass through one. Extra cosmic rays produced during such an event, owing to interactions of the interstellar dust with the Sun, would break up nitrogen molecules in Earth's atmosphere, leading to ozone destruction.

Pavlov said the work, supported by NASA, might be testable. Geologists could look for higher amounts of uranium 235 in soil layers corresponding to the time of known glaciations. Uranium 235 can't be produced naturally in the solar system.

Deep Space Personal Ads Become a Reality

Seems like every Silicon Valley technocrat worth his or her salt can’t wait to get off-world. It was announced earlier this week that groovy Internet community craigslist has plans to offer its users the opportunity to have their postings – personals, want ads, etc., -- transmitted trillions of miles beyond the confines of the Solar System.

"It looks like we may hit 2 billion page views per month in March here on Earth," craigslist customer service rep and founder, Craig Newmark said in a press release touting the concept. "We wanted to be the first to offer free job postings, apartment listings, personals and other classifieds to the extraterrestrial community. We believe there could be an infinite market opportunity."

The craigslist currently handles 5 million earthly postings each month, from 8 million humans, in 99 cities and 19 countries on the planetary surface.

The company announced the plan after CEO Jim Buckmaster won an auction on eBay for the first private communication to be transmitted into deep space by Deep Space Communications Network, of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Noting that such transmissions have long been the exclusive domain of military and research institutions, Buckmaster said "We're thrilled to offer our users this historic opportunity", and added that negotiations were ongoing with DSCN for transmission capacity orders of magnitude beyond those offered in the original auction, to accommodate the interstellar messaging needs of the mammoth online community.”

Thousands Keen For Space Flight

 More than 7,000 people have said they will pay to fly into space in one of entrepreneur Richard Branson's space ships - which have yet to be built.

The space adventurers have pledged a total of £805m to travel 70 miles above the Earth, Sir Richard said.

The 54-year-old has put £74m into his Virgin Galactic plan, adding to the £115,000 each passenger will have to pay for the expected take-off in 2008. They will experience weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.

Sir Richard said he was overwhelmed by the response. "We are extremely pleased because it just means in a sense that the gamble we took seems to have paid off," he said.

"We have committed US$100m (£60m) and we have had a tremendous take-up. All indicators are that the risk was worth taking. "Market research suggested that there were that sort of number of people willing to agree to that sort of price."

The first flight will be reserved for Sir Richard and his family. Its scheduled lift-off will be in 2008 to coincide with the Virgin boss' father Ted, 86, turning 90.

"My dad has put his hand up and will be 90 at the time, my kids definitely want to come and if there is room for my mum she will come as well," said Sir Richard.

If his father joined the flight, he would the oldest person ever to fly in space, beating John Glenn who travelled aged 77 in 2001.

Sir Richard hopes that eventually the spacecraft will launch from various stations around the world, including Australia. "If we can make it a success, then I hope we can lower the price so that more people can realise their dream and go into space."

Among those keen to travel at three times the speed of sound are Star Trek star William Shatner and Dave Navarro, the drummer from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

One unidentified Hollywood director has also booked an entire ship and hopes to be among the first up in space.

The journey, in either five- or nine-seaters, will last about 3.5 hours and passengers will be weightless for at least six minutes.

BBC News

SpaceShipOne's Rutan: Space resorts in 25 years

In a generation, outer space is going to look sort of like Orlando in Florida, if space pioneer Burt Rutan is right.

Speaking at a forum recently, Rutan said commercial space flights that will let ordinary individuals go into outer space will start to occur in about 12 years, with resorts showing up in about 25 years.

So far, only 455 people have orbited in space, said Rutan, who designed SpaceShipOne, the craft that won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private space travel.

"Twelve to 15 years from now commercial space trips will be in the $30,000 to $40,000 area to go outside the atmosphere," Rutan said. "We're going to have orbiting resort hotels in 25 years."

By comparison, Richard Branson's space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic, is charging would-be weekend astronauts approximately $190,000 for planned two-hour flights, of which about five minutes would be spent in weightless conditions.

A key factor in this will be improved safety. In a few years, early space flight companies will be able to offer the safety that 1930s airline companies provided, which is "about 100 times safer than the U.S. and the Russians offered in the first three decades of space travel," Rutan said.

Safe re-entry, in fact, was one of the aspects of Rutan's SpaceShipOne craft that could help pave the way toward commercial space flights. The flight of the craft last year also could inspire a new generation of aeronautics engineers. Howard Hughes, Werner Von Braun and others were children when the early aeronautical achievements took place from 1908 to 1912, Rutan noted.

Until recently, NASA and its glacial pace took much of the romance and excitement out of space travel, he said. "In the last 30 years, we have bored our kids with the space program," Rutan said.

Cnet Networks, Inc.

Rainbows on Titan

When the European Space Agency's Huygens probe visited Saturn's moon Titan last month, the probe parachuted through humid clouds. It photographed river channels and beaches and things that look like islands. Finally, descending through swirling fog, Huygens landed in mud.

To make a long story short, Titan is wet.

Christian Huygens wouldn't have been a bit surprised. In 1698, three hundred years before the Huygens probe left Earth, the Dutch astronomer wrote these words: "Since 'tis certain that Earth and Jupiter have their Water and Clouds, there is no reason why the other Planets should be without them."

Huygens discovered Titan in 1655, which is why the probe is named after him. In those days, Titan was just a pinprick of light in a telescope. Huygens could not see Titan's clouds, pregnant with rain, or Titan's hillsides, sculpted by rushing liquids, but he had a fine imagination.

Titan's "water" is liquid methane, better known on Earth as natural gas. Regular Earth-water, H2O, would be frozen solid on Titan where the surface temperature is 290o F below zero. Methane, on the other hand, is a flowing liquid. One member of the Huygens mission science team and his colleagues believe that Huygens landed in the Titan-equivalent of Arizona, a mostly-dry area with brief but intense wet seasons.

Interestingly, if this methane can fall as rain, it's entirely possible that there could be rainbows on Titan, as the Sun's light passes through methane droplets.

The ingredients you need for a rainbow are sunlight and raindrops and Titan has both. A methane rainbow would be a larger than a water rainbow because it bends light differently. Sunlight has trouble passing through Titan's hazy atmosphere, but you might be able to see an infrared rainbow with the right kind of camera.

"The river channels near the Huygens probe look empty now," but liquids have been there recently, they say. Little rocks strewn around the landing site are compelling: they're smooth and round like river rocks on Earth, and "they sit in little depressions dug, apparently, by rushing fluids."

 Last but not least, liquid methane is flammable. Titan doesn't catch fire because the atmosphere contains so little oxygen--a key ingredient for combustion. If explorers visit Titan one day they'll have to be careful with their oxygen tanks and resist the urge to douse fires with "water."

 Original Source: Science@NASA

Japan Space Plan May Include Manned Moon Base

Japan's space agency is drawing up plans that could include manned space flights and a manned research base on the moon, a newspaper said today. Japan took a step towards restoring faith in its space program on Saturday when it put a satellite in orbit, 15 months after its previous attempt ended in humiliating failure when the rocket had to be blown up shortly after launch.

That failure was particularly painful because it came shortly after China successfully put a man into space - a move that Japan said at the time it had no plans to emulate. A draft long-term plan being drawn up by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) includes developing a vehicle similar to the U.S. space shuttle by 2025.

Around the same time, it hopes to start constructing a research base on the moon, the newspaper said.

Many in the space industry say Japan is unlikely to become a major player in commercial satellite launches but scientists argue the space programme is important for national prestige. Satellites launched by Japan could play a valuable regional role such as helping warn other Asian countries of tsunami, they say.

Houston Chronicle - USA 

China’s Next Space Travellers in Training

 China is ramping up preparations for that country’s second human spaceflight later this year. According to the Xinhua news agency, 10 astronauts in five pairs are in the run-up to pilot the Shenzhou-6 spaceship.

The two-person crew will not be selected “until the last minute” said Huang Chunping, the chief launch vehicle designer of China’s human spaceflight program, he was quoted as saying, based on a report in the Beijing Times newspaper Friday.

China’s first piloted spaceflight was carried out in October 2003, a mission lasting a little over 21 hours in duration. At the controls of that craft was Yang Liwei – who is also among the trainees for the upcoming two-person space shot expected to last for over five days.

Huang also said Shenhou-6 will carry two new upgrades: a video transmission system so ground controllers can monitor the separation of the rocket and the spaceship live; and a better escape system for the pilots in case of emergencies. Lastly, Huang said the two space travelers would enter the roomy forward module of Shenzhou-6 to carry out experiments.

There are no plans for the crew to carry out a space walk, he said.

Space.Com

Leaking Gravity May Explain Cosmic Puzzle

 Scientists may not have to go over to the dark side to explain the fate of the universe.

The theory that the accelerated expansion of the universe is caused by mysterious "dark energy" is being challenged by New York University physicist Georgi Dvali. He thinks there's just a gravity leak.

Scientists have known since the 1920s that the universe is expanding. In the late 1990s, they realized that it is expanding at an ever-increasing pace. At a loss to explain the stunning discovery, cosmologists blamed it on dark energy, a newly coined term to describe the mysterious antigravity force apparently pushing galaxies outward.

This repulsive, unknown force is believed to make up more than 70 percent of the mass-energy budget of the universe.

But the existence of dark energy is far from proven, and some researchers believe they and their colleagues simply don't understand gravity at larger scales. The gravitational pull between any two objects becomes less with distance. But in Dvali's view, it weakens more than standard theory predicts.

Dvali would modify the theory of gravity so that the universe becomes self-accelerating, eliminating the need for dark energy. He presented his work here earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dvali borrows from string theory, which states that there are extra, hidden dimensions beyond the four we are familiar with: three directions and time. String theory suggests that gravitons -- hypothetical elementary particles transmitting gravitational forces -- can escape to other dimensions. Dvali says this would cause "leaks" in gravity over cosmic proportions, reducing gravitational pull at larger distances more than expected.

"The gravitons behave like sound in a metal sheet," says Dvali. "Hitting the sheet with a hammer creates a sound wave that travels along its surface. But the sound propagation is not exactly two-dimensional as part of the energy is lost into the surrounding air. Near the hammer, the loss of energy is small, but further away, it's more significant."

The effect is to alter the space-time continuum, speeding up universal expansion.

"Virtual gravitons exploit every possible route between the objects," Dvali said, "and the leakage opens up a huge number of multi-dimensional detours, which brings about a change in the law of gravity."

The speeding up of the universe suggest that Einstein’s laws of General Relativity, describing the interaction of space and matter, must be modified at large cosmic distances.

"It is this modification, and not dark energy, that is responsible for the accelerated expansion of the universe," Dvali concludes.

The Most Distant, Very Massive Structure In The Universe Known So Far

Combining observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope and ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, astronomers have discovered the most distant, very massive structure in the Universe known so far.

It is a remote cluster of galaxies that is found to weigh as much as several thousand galaxies like our own Milky Way and is located no less than 9,000 million light-years away.

The VLT images reveal that it contains reddish and elliptical, i.e.  old, galaxies. Interestingly, the cluster itself appears to be in a very advanced state of development. It must therefore have formed when the Universe was less than one third of its present age. The Universe is now believed to be 13,700 million years old.

The discovery of such a complex and mature structure so early in the history of the Universe is highly surprising. Indeed, until recently it would even have been deemed impossible. Clusters of galaxies are gigantic structures containing hundreds to thousands of galaxies. They are the fundamental building blocks of the Universe and their study thus provides unique information about the underlying architecture of the Universe as a whole.

The galaxies appear reddish and are of the elliptical type. They are full of old, red stars. All of this indicates that these galaxies are already several thousand million years old. Moreover, the cluster itself has a largely spherical shape, also a sign that it is already a very mature structure.

We seem to have underestimated how quickly the early Universe matured into its present-day state. The Universe did grow up fast!

Press Release at http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/pr-04-05.html

ESO Press Release

Galaxy Headed for a Cosmic Collision

The Hubble Space Telescope has taken a photograph of irregular galaxy NGC 1427A on a death plunge into the Fornax cluster of galaxies. Astronomers think that the galaxy will be completely ripped apart within a billion years, and its stars assimilated into other galaxies in the cluster.

OK, what happens when a galaxy falls in with the wrong crowd? The irregular galaxy NGC 1427A is a spectacular example of the resulting stellar rumble. Under the gravitational grasp of a large gang of galaxies, called the Fornax cluster, the small bluish galaxy is plunging headlong into the group at 600 kilometres per second or nearly 400 miles per second.

NGC 1427A, which is located some 62 million light-years away from Earth in the direction of the constellation Fornax, shows numerous hot, blue stars in this newly released image obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. These blue stars have been formed very recently, showing that star formation is occurring extensively throughout the galaxy.

Galaxy clusters, like the Fornax cluster, contain hundreds or even thousands of individual galaxies. Within the Fornax cluster, there is a considerable amount of gas lying between the galaxies. When the gas within NGC 1427A collides with the Fornax gas, it is compressed to the point that it starts to collapse under its own gravity. This leads to formation of the myriad of new stars seen across NGC 1427A, which give the galaxy an overall arrowhead shape that appears to point in the direction of the galaxy's high-velocity motion. The tidal forces of nearby galaxies in the cluster may also play a role in triggering star formation on such a massive scale.

NGC 1427A will not survive long as an identifiable galaxy passing through the cluster. Within the next billion years, it will be completely disrupted, spilling its stars and remaining gas into intergalactic space within the Fornax cluster.

 
The disruption of objects like NGC 1427A, and even larger galaxies like our own Milky Way, is an integral part of the formation and evolution of galaxy clusters. Such events are believed to have been very common during the early evolution of the universe, but the rate of galaxy destruction is tapering off at the present time. Thus the impending destruction of NGC 1427A provides a glimpse of an early and much more chaotic time in our universe.

Original Source: Hubble News Release

==== IN THE SKY ===

Valid until  Thursday March 10.
New Moon on Thursday March 10.  Mercury graces the early evening skies, but is extraordinarily difficult to see being very low on the horizon. Golden Saturn is in the northern evening sky forming a "V" with the bright stars Castor and Pollox.

Saturn still looks good in small telescopes. Jupiter is the brightest object above the eastern horizon late in the evening, near the bright white star Spica. Early risers can see Mars below the lid of the "Teapot" of Sagittarius. Venus will be lost from sight this week.

See southern Sky Watch for details. http://home.mira.net/~reynella/skywatch/ssky.htm
Credit: ABC science Updates

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